"I told him." Harry had no intention of keeping anything from Mr. Bagman. "There was a minor situation in their family, however..."
He looked up and glanced at Fleur and Viktor ahead of him.
Mr. Bagman understood; he nodded and didn't say anything further.
"For specific details, you can ask my godfather, Mr. Black," Harry added. "He would be happy to tell you the details."
"I see," Mr. Bagman nodded.
After learning the specific requirements of the third task, Harry called Veratia.
"Harry?... Oh, put this file here... Okay, I know... Don't ask me about such details, my secretary Miss Farley will give you the answer—Oh, Harry, go ahead."
It was apparent that Veratia was very busy.
Harry concisely told her the specific content of the third task; during the call, she was interrupted by Ministry officials more than five times.
"I understand. I'll give you an answer later, alright? My dear."
"Okay." Harry hung up the phone with Veratia.
He let out a long sigh. Why was Veratia still working overtime so late?
Oh, Harry remembered. It seemed Veratia had mentioned a few days ago that the Czechoslovakian Ministry of Magic had also been merged into Greater Germany, and she was dealing with related matters.
However, Hungary, which she had been longing for, showed no reaction at all, which made the Vice Minister very unhappy.
"What's wrong?"
When he returned to the dormitory, Ron saw Harry looking unhappy and asked curiously.
"Nothing." Harry shook his head. "The third task turned out to be a maze. I really didn't expect it—they actually turned the Quidditch pitch into a maze!"
"That's too much!" Ron shot up from his seat. "How could they! How dare they! That's the sacred Quidditch pitch! Merlin's footwraps..."
Finally, he suddenly asked, "So, what are they making you look for this time? Hunting for treasure in the maze? Then I recommend you go ask Professor Scamander for a Niffler. That way, you can find the treasure quickly..."
"No, it's to find the Goblet of Fire," Harry said concisely. "But I don't think a Niffler would recognize a cup made of wood as treasure, so..."
"So what?" Ron raised his eyebrows.
"So the Niffler operation is a no-go." Harry spread his hands indifferently. "However, it's said that they asked Professor Scamander for quite a few magical beasts to put in the maze to stop our progress..."
"Oh, Merlin's pants! How can they be so wicked!" Ron sighed to the heavens. "So, will we get to see the champions being ravaged by magical beasts?"
Harry looked sideways at Ron, only to find the other boy grinning.
"It's not my fault I want to see champions battling magical beasts."
Harry could tell that his good brother was just purely looking for entertainment, thinking the competition was too boring and wanting to see blood flow.
"I think your dream might actually come true. After all, given Fleur's level of spellwork, she might not be able to handle magical beasts," Harry said, spreading his hands.
It wasn't that he looked down on Fleur, he just felt that the girl's spellcasting was truly mediocre.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been unable to deal with the Grindylows.
Those kinds of small magical creatures... cowardly and small in size. One spell would scare them all away. What was so hard to deal with?
Following Harry's train of thought, Ron got even more excited.
Such a pretty girl, battling against magical beasts...
"I can't wait, Harry," Ron said excitedly.
"Same," Seamus said from the side.
"When did you get back?" Ron turned and asked.
"Just when you mentioned Professor Scamander providing magical beasts for the maze," Seamus chuckled. "But I think to deal with magical beasts, a simple Confringo is enough. What do you reckon?"
"That's just you," Ron rolled his eyes. "You're a natural-born user of explosive spells, alright?"
"True enough," Seamus shrugged.
Early the next morning, while Harry was having breakfast, he suddenly noticed Ron squeezing several steps away from him.
Then, a familiar fragrance wafted over.
It was Cassandra.
"Potter." Cassandra sat in the seat with her head held high. "I heard the third task has been decided?"
"How did you know?" Harry asked curiously.
"That Bulgarian fatty..." Cassandra's eyes flashed with disdain. "He said it in the Slytherin common room. So, what magical beasts do you think Professor Scamander will put in there?"
"It shouldn't be anything too excessive, right?" Harry thought for a moment. "I remember Professor Scamander has a Zouwu, but in the maze... surely they wouldn't put a Zouwu in there? It should be creatures rated three stars or below, or maybe four stars."
Cassandra lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, then said, "Perhaps, but there is nothing wrong with being careful..."
"So, are you caring about me?" Harry suddenly leaned in cheekily and asked.
Unexpectedly, Cassandra just glanced up at him, still like a proud swan.
"So what if I am? As the mistress, isn't it what should be done to care for her little minion?"
Harry rolled up his sleeves.
"Who did you say is the master? I'll give you one more chance."
"Hmph, boring."
Cassandra suddenly stood up, leaned down, and pressed close to Harry's ear.
Her golden hair hung down, cascading over Harry's body, face, and neck.
It was ticklish and fragrant.
"Take a guess, my boy?"
Before Harry could answer, Cassandra had already pulled away and left.
This girl...
Harry grit his teeth.
Ever since the two of them had vaguely yet directly confirmed their relationship, she had become increasingly seductive!
With the gnashing desire to teach Cassandra a firm lesson, Harry ate his breakfast sandwich.
A bacon sandwich, very tasty and nutritionally balanced, at least sufficient for a big lad with a fifteen-year-old body and a twenty-something soul.
The first class in the morning was Divination. Since Hermione hadn't chosen Divination but Arithmancy instead, she went to another classroom.
After they parted ways, Harry and Ron went to the North Tower for Divination.
Dazzling golden sunlight cast wide bands of light through the high windows of the corridor; the blue sky outside looked bright as if freshly glazed.
"Trelawney's classroom is bound to be hot as a steamer; she never puts out the fire," Ron said as they walked up the stairs leading to the silver ladder and trapdoor.
He was spot on. The dim classroom was stiflingly hot, and the smell of incense was even heavier than usual.
Anyone who didn't know better would think they had entered a steamer for smoking food.
Harry walked to a curtained window; the fumes made his head feel a bit dizzy.
While Professor Trelawney was untangling a shawl from a lamp, Harry opened the window and leaned back in a chintz armchair. A light breeze blew on his face; it was delightful.
"Nice one, mate," Ron whispered praises to Harry. "Look at them, amazingly stupid, they don't even know how to open a window..."
Thanks to Harry, Ron also felt his befuddled head clear up considerably.
Professor Trelawney didn't seem to mind his actions, and even gave Harry a look full of profound meaning.
However, the other students, intimidated by Professor Trelawney's habit of issuing death omens, didn't open their windows, but submissively endured the trouble of the incense.
"My dears," Professor Trelawney sat in a winged armchair, scanning them with her eyes that were surprisingly large. "We have nearly finished covering planetary divination... but today is an excellent opportunity to study the effects of Mars, for it is currently in a most interesting position. Please look this way, I shall turn off the light..."
She waved her wand, and all the lamps went out; the fireplace became the only source of light.
Professor Trelawney bent down and took out a small model of the solar system inside a glass dome from under her chair.
The model was very beautiful; the burning sun, the nine planets and their moons floated within the glass cover, twinkling in their respective positions.
"How much is that thing?" Hufflepuff's Justin Finch-Fletchley was simply stunned. "That's so cool, I want one too..."
"One hundred and twenty-three Galleons," Professor Trelawney heard Justin and told him.
"That's really not expensive."
As a boy from a family capable of sending him to Eton, Justin's family situation was better than average well-to-do.
It should be said that his family belonged to the top tier of the middle class. One hundred and twenty-three Galleons was just six hundred and fifteen pounds—hardly a large sum.
Muggles were much richer than wizards... Harry watched lazily as Professor Trelawney began to explain the marvelous angle formed by Mars and Neptune.
Just as Professor Trelawney entered that mystic, rambling state, a wave of heavy incense washed over him.
The breeze from the window caressed his cheek, he could hear the faint chirping of an insect behind the curtain, and combined with Professor Trelawney's hypnotic teaching style, his eyelids began to droop...
In his dream, he seemed to return to a hundred years ago, but the scene was somewhat different...
...He returned to the moment of the final battle, but Ranrok, who had turned into a dragon, suddenly transformed again, becoming a giant Voldemort.
Then, that giant Voldemort face opened its mouth and lunged at him.
In an instant, violet light flashed.
Appearing before Harry again was Veratia.
She was sitting in the Minister for Magic's seat. The Minister's office was huge, larger than any office Harry had ever seen.
Behind Veratia was a map of Europe marked in yellow and black; half of it was already colored in, and the rest was blank, which included Britain and France.
After the two looked at each other, Harry suddenly saw Veratia stand up from her seat and walk down with slow steps.
"My dear? My dear?"
In his dazed state, he felt someone shaking him.
He opened his eyes abruptly. There was no Veratia in front of him, only Professor Trelawney's long, narrow face, and in those two eyes like black beetles, the fire in the hearth was dancing.
"Oh, Professor Trelawney." Harry sucked at the corner of his mouth; he felt as if he had drooled.
"Sleeping in class is not good behavior. I hope you won't do it again," Professor Trelawney warned solemnly. "If you sleep in my class again, I will have to deduct points from Gryffindor—at least five points."
Oh, only five points.
The Gryffindor students looked at each other. This price was completely acceptable for Gryffindor.
Besides, Harry was the guaranteed champion this year; he would definitely secure the House Cup for Gryffindor as well.
Thinking of this, a ruthless idea floated in everyone's minds.
How about? Sleeping despite the point deduction?
Anyway, Professor Trelawney's class was extremely boring, with no real substance to be heard, just purely... boring.
Harry didn't know that his classmates had already banked on him being champion; he just felt he hadn't slept enough.
Not that he hadn't slept well last night; on the contrary, he slept quite well, completely forgetting that Veratia was supposed to call him—in fact, Veratia was so busy she forgot to call too, only sending a message telling him to sleep early and that they would chat when she was free.
You're catching up to Professor Binns, Harry thought to himself. Let everyone attend a few more Divination classes, and I'm afraid the title of "Most Boring Class" will change hands from Professor Binns.
But bored Harry suddenly wanted to add a little fun to the boring class, so he rolled his eyes and began to explain: "Actually, I wasn't just sleeping, Professor Trelawney—I also had a dream, I dreamt of some things... I feel it might be related to the future."
Professor Trelawney's eyes widened. She held Harry's face in her hands and asked tremulously, "Ah, yes, well, hmm... you dreamt of some things... my dear, what else have you...? Let me think, you were obviously influenced by the clairvoyant vibrations in my classroom! Have you never entered this state before? Have you seen things you've never seen before?"
"Yes..." Harry suddenly said with a solemn expression, "I saw... 'The Grim'!"
As soon as Harry's words came out, the students in the classroom were stunned.
No, bro? This Grim, shouldn't it be Professor Trelawney holding your face and saying it?
"'The Grim'?!" Professor Trelawney's half-open eyes suddenly opened wide. She asked tremulously, "What... 'Grim'?"
It was evident that she was very happy someone could resonate with her.
"I..." Harry hesitated.
"Speak freely, my dear!" Professor Trelawney waved her arms.
"Well..." Harry drew out the sound.
After he felt he had attracted enough of the whole class's attention, he spoke slowly, his face resolute.
"I seem to have seen... death."
--
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